1. Technical Field
The technical field relates generally to monitoring usage of utilities and, more particularly, to methods and systems of facilitating communication between control systems and devices that consume electrical power.
2. Background Discussion
Building management systems control and conserve resources consumed by the operation of subsystems within buildings and other structures. The subsystems managed by a typical building management system include power supply, environmental control, lighting control, security and fire protection subsystems. The amount of resources consumed by these subsystems is substantial—nearing 70% of the total resources consumed within a building according to some estimates.
Conventional building management systems are implemented using a variety of standards and computing technologies. Some building management systems employ a hierarchical architecture in which management and configuration devices are connected to one another via a network. Under this architecture, each of the management and configuration devices is also connected to one or more control devices that monitor and control the operation of a subsystem of the building. The management and configuration devices allow users to initially configure, monitor and alter the behavior of the subsystems controlled by the control devices. Management and configuration devices are typically implemented using general purpose computer systems, such as a personal computer or laptop. Control devices are often proprietary, special purpose devices that include environmental sensors and that can alter the operation of a particular subsystem.